It's All About to Change
by Wyltk
Summary: Helga has been cutting herself off from people and Arnold is going to try and get her back. But will he get her to talk before something bad happens?


An: This is my first Hey Arnold fic and will probably be my last. But if you like Harry Potter come visit me often. I have tons done and in the making. Anyway, this is dedicated to my friend, Ms. Prongs, who is a Hey Arnold fan and got me to write this. I encourage all of you to go read her stuff. She's the best!  
  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Hey Arnold or the song by Travis Tritt. Please No suing.  
  
It's All About to Change By Wyltk  
  
"Problems Arnoldo?" Helga questioned as she slowly turned to face the boy that had crashed into her. She stood up from the floor glaring at the sixteen year old who didn't even appear fazed from their head on collision.  
  
He was almost a head taller then she was and much stronger after working hard and becoming the sophomore's lead Quarterback. She had never quite understood how the short skinny boy of years ago had changed into the, figuratively speaking, monster he was now.  
  
"No Helga. I don't have any problems. Sorry bout running into you." He said rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.  
  
Helga glared and pushed past him and heard Gerald say "Hemorrhoid Helga" as she past. She clenched her teeth together as tears pricked her eyes. She quickly pushed them back and marched towards her class. Once there she grabbed her small purple book, her pink one being long since retired, and started to write furiously.  
  
She glared at the people who had the audacity to look her way. She had changed, as most of her class mates had. She now had two eyebrows and her hair now traveled down her back in large ringlets. But she was still a bully though not as bad as when she was nine.  
  
Of course she still wrote. She wrote all the time though not all of it was about Arnold. She still wrote about him and loved him more then ever but she had a. boyfriend now. And anyway she wasn't half as obsessed as before. No, as she matured her love matured until it was a quiet type of love like a caterpillar in its cocoon that was to be cradled softly until it was ready to finish it's transformation into a beautiful butterfly ready to fly towards it's love.  
  
Sometimes she still wished for the obsessed love. It consumed her like a forest fire burning every other thought away. Sometimes she needed that sometimes she got it back for instants when he showed her he actually cared about her at all.  
  
BANG!  
  
"STOP IT! Stop breathing down my neck and get a breathe mint!" she screamed at the boy who had fallen flat at her punch. She placed the book back in her bag and turned her attention to the teacher who had just walked in missing her big uproar by seconds.  
  
~*~ I can't hide the way I feel about you anymore I can't hold the hurt inside, keep the pain out of my eyes anymore My tears no longer waiting...my resistance ain't that strong My mind keeps recreating a life with you alone And I'm tired of pretending that I don't love you anymore ~*~  
  
Helga walked over to Harold, who was still quite chunky but a great tackler, she asked when the game was and he replied with all the details. She nodded to the boy and set off for the restrooms so she could change out of her school clothes and into her after school ones.  
  
Everyday it would be the same routine wake up, get dressed, go to school, get details on the game, change, play, homework, go home, finish homework, with only a few variations now and then. It was simple and easy and becoming strangely unwelcoming with mostly guys in the game. Especially since John, her boyfriend, joined with his group of friends. She shuttered silently at the thought and sighed as she walked out of the restrooms.  
  
"Helga!" yelled her boyfriend as soon as she was out. He looked at her angrily as he ran to catch up with her. "Where have you been!" he demanded.  
  
"Sorry John I got out of class late and then I had to change. I just have to stop by my locker and then we can go alright? I'll meet you in your car." she took off towards her locker at full speed as John walked away.  
  
Arnold turned away from her locker and stared curiously at the both of them and then walked off towards Gerald's field. He had the feeling something bad was going to happen at today's game. Something strange and bad, something to do with Helga.  
  
'You're nuts, Arnold! She one of the best baseball players out there she's not going to get hurt easily. Get real!' he said to himself shaking his head.  
  
~*~  
  
"COME ON HAROLD! Pitch the ball!" screamed Helga as the boy taunted Sid.  
  
"Shut up Pinball Pataki!" He immediately pitched the ball as Helga growled deep in her throat and started towards him. You didn't Call Helga that unless you wanted your face rearranged to accommodate her fist.  
  
A crack like a whip and Sid was off running. Helga ran backwards reaching for the ball but before she could there was a shout of "I got it!" and Eugene barreled right into her. He shoved her right away from the ball and right next to the fence that had been put up just as Sid made it to home.  
  
Great! Eugene just lost the game for their team! She threw her mit down and got up grasping her side. John walked over to her and gruffly asked if she was okay. She nodded and she backed away from him slightly.  
  
"I'm fine. See you guys! I'm going home."  
  
She marched off sending a patent Pataki glare at Eugene who backed straight into a garbage can. She marched off only stopping to grab her books. She walked until she was out of site and then sat on a bench in the middle of the park. She slowly pulled up her shirt just enough to see the damage.  
  
A large gash, though not likely deep enough for stitches, marred the skin at her side with a background of a very large black and blue bruise.  
  
"I thought I had seen blood." spoke a voice that was unmistakably Arnolds. She let out a screech and dropped her shirt back down.  
  
"Where did you get the bruise Helga?"  
  
"Just now, doh! Eugene did just head but me into a fence."  
  
Arnolds brow furrowed slightly in thought and his eyes stared narrowly out at her. "Come on. My house is closer then yours you can get that cut cleaned up and then you can go home."  
  
"Nice of you to offer, Arnoldo, but I can take care of myself." Helga stood up and glared at Arnolds raised brows.  
  
"Yes, You can take care of yourself, at my house, before you go home."  
  
He smiled at her gently and grabbed her arm stirring her towards his house. She said nothing as they got their just growled in the back of her throat knowing Arnold was more then able to stop her if she protested anymore. Though he probably wouldn't have. Once they were in his house he pushed her towards the restroom.  
  
"First Aid kit is under the sink. I'll wait for you in the Living room." he smiled at her and left the hall.  
  
She quickly fixed up the cut and left the bathroom tiptoeing past the living room and leaving out the door quietly. After all she hadn't wanted to go to Arnolds in the first place.  
  
~*~  
  
Arnold stared reproachfully at Helga all day the next day. He was disappointed in her. He had thought she would at least say good bye before she left.  
  
Actually she had been acting differently lately. She acted more resentful, withdrawn, half the time she acted like she was scared of something. But that was stupid Helga G. Pataki did not get scared. She got mad she got even, boy did she get even, but he had never really seen her scared before.  
  
'I'm going to talk to Phoebe first chance I get. Maybe she'll know what's going on with Helga. She is her best friend after all.'  
  
~*~  
  
"Phoebe, wait up!" yelled Arnold running towards her. He passed through the crowd of students easily. He reached her just as she was at the door to leave.  
  
"Arnold, I don't have much time Gerald asked me to the movies but what do you need?"  
  
He smiled at that. Phoebe and Gerald had been going together for a month though both had liked each other for years.  
  
"I wanted to know if you noticed anything different about Helga."  
  
"I don't know. I haven't talked to her for weeks. She just started ignoring me after she refused to tell me what's wrong with her. I'm worried about her myself I haven't seen her really talk to anyone. Not even John. I'm afraid she's going to blow up from keeping in her feelings. We used to talk a lot. Does that help at all Arnold?"  
  
"Yes, thank you Phoebe."  
  
Arnold walked back through the now mostly empty halls to his locker. 'Could Helga be having problems at home? Or was it something else? What was going on with her?'  
  
~*~  
  
Helga turned at the sound of her name and smiled slightly. "John, I missed you." She kissed his cheek and linked arms with him chatting lightly as the walked away.  
  
Arnold watched them silently seething inside. Questioning the irrational anger that had spread in him he turned back to his locker. Was he jealous? No, that certainly wasn't it. There was just something wrong with that guy.  
  
John Baxter seemed to reek egotism. As Quarterback of the senior football team is was probably well earned egotism. Although, if you wanted to be picky, the sophomores had beaten the seniors 30 to 0.  
  
Half the school had said Arnold was the best Quarterback seen for two decades. The other half was too afraid to not back up John's title as the best. He was just a kind of person that inspired fear in people.  
  
Actually the younger Helga would have matched perfectly with him. But that was the younger Helga, sure she could still be as mean as a Rattlesnake that had just been stepped on but she wasn't like that all the time. Sometimes she was very sweet, at least when she thought no one noticed.  
  
Arnold watched as John pressed his hand carelessly around Helga's side. Her eyes filled with pain but her smiled stayed put as she looked back slightly to his the pain. At least she seemed to be in pain but she seemed to block it. She seemed almost used to pain. Was she used to it?  
  
~*~ Let me make one last appeal to show you how I feel about you...hmmm Cause there's no one else I swear, holds a candle, anywhere, next to you My heart can't take the beating of not having you to hold A small voice keeps repeating deep inside my soul... It says I can't keep pretending that I don't love you anymore ~*~  
  
Helga sat on the grassy spot hidden by mounds of trees on three sides and on the other the river. It was beautiful there the water reflecting the sun as she lay their peacefully. She had found this place a few years ago. There was only two ways to get to it. One was to swim and the other was a hard to follow path in the woods.  
  
She had come here ever since she had first found it. As a matter of fact she had place a large blanket and some pens and pencils in a hollow tree so she could just take out what she need when she needed it. She had, of course, placed it in a plastic bag to keep the stuff from being soiled.  
  
Sometimes it was nice to use this little spot to get away. And right now was one of those times she didn't want to be around anyone. And luckily for her only phoebe knew about this place and even then she had trouble getting to it by the forest path.  
  
"HELGA!" screamed a loud voice in the distance. She mutely noted John was crossing the bridge looking for her. Sighing she walked back along the woods and gathered her stuff together.  
  
Slowly she caught up with John and smiled. "Sorry to be late John. I was in the restroom." She said lying through her teeth. She linked arms with him as he started to walk her home.  
  
~*~  
  
"Helga?" asked Arnold as he came up behind her. Summer brake had just started today and most of the kids were off relaxing after the exams. He had come upon her as she was just about to go swimming.  
  
"What!" she screeched tensing as she turned quickly, a little too quickly. As she turned her foot caught on something and she went flying backwards into the water.  
  
"What happened?" he asked looking at her face as he helped her up.  
  
"I tripped you dork!" she said angrily.  
  
"No, I meant your face you have a big red mark. Who slapped you?" Arnold asked examining the mark which indeed looked like a hand print  
  
"No one!" she said gathering her stuff up quickly.  
  
"Helga-"  
  
"Look I said no one alright! Mind your own business Football head!" she marched off quickly ignoring his calls to come back.  
  
~*~  
  
Arnold walked up to Phoebe's porch and knocked lightly on the door. Phoebe immediately opened the door and stepped out on the porch a fancy blue dress flying around her knees.  
  
"Oh Arnold. How are you?" she asked obviously surprised to see him but polite all the same.  
  
"Hello Phoebe. Are you going on a date?" Arnold asked politely.  
  
"Yes, I thought you were Gerald."  
  
"Oh I'm sorry I won't keep you long I just wanted to know if you ever saw Helga being abused by her parents. I mean well."  
  
"She's not being abused physically emotionally maybe but never has she been hit. It's more like her family ignoring her. Her parents are smarter then that." Phoebe sighed heavily "Arnold why are you so worried about her?"  
  
"I really don't know. She's always mean to me and my friends but I can't seem to help wanting to make sure she is okay. Almost like a brother or something."  
  
"Arnold if that's all you think of her, which is fine for you really, I suggest you stop trying to help. Your going to hurt her more in the end."  
  
"What are you talking about Phoebe?"  
  
"Don't you know? After all these years you still don't know?" sighing Phoebe waved sadly at Gerald, "I better go Arnold. It was nice talking to you."  
  
~*~  
  
Arnold grabbed Helga's hand stopping her from putting the concealer to her face. She turned towards him in surprise and he had a perfect view of the large black bruise blossoming on her face.  
  
"Did John do this?" he asked gently touching the bruise and drawling back when she flinched.  
  
"No!"  
  
"Don't lie to me Helga!"  
  
She jumped back and her eyes filled with fear. She backed away against a tree her secret place feeling more constricting then comforting at the moment.  
  
"Helga, listen to me. You don't deserve to be treated like this."  
  
"I DO!"  
  
"You don't!"  
  
"How did you find me, Football head." she demanded her eyes boring into his.  
  
"I followed you through the woods." he said softly.  
  
"I never want to see you again ARNOLD. Just leave me alone!"  
  
Helga took off through the woods way to fast for him to follow on the narrow path that turned sharply.  
  
~*~ I've got to take the chance or let it pass by If I expect to get on with my life With my life... ~*~  
  
Arnold turned at the annoying sound of breathing behind him. He hated to admit it but Brainy sometimes got very annoying.  
  
"Hello Brainy."  
  
"Hello *wheeze* Arnold. You wanted to know what's been happening to Helga."  
  
"You know?" Arnold asked his brow furrowing.  
  
"I want to be a reporter. It's my job to know."  
  
~*~  
  
A small drop of blood traveled down her face from her split lip. She put her arms up to protect her face and waited for the beating to continue.  
  
"I swear I wasn't."  
  
"You're lying." Two hands pushed her protecting arms away from her face roughly twisting them behind her back.  
  
"Let her go." A cool voice spoke from behind the three guys.  
  
Normally younger classmen didn't bug them. In fact younger class men were scared to death of them. But a younger classmen who had broken one of the *metal* tackle dummies was not to be messed with. Especially when they saw the strongest of them being held by the collar.  
  
"I ever see you guys messing with her again you'll regret the day you were born."  
  
He let go of the guys collar and dusted off his suit. The guy froze until the boy stepped back and then took off along with his buddies.  
  
"Are you alright Helga?"  
  
"I could have taken care of myself Football head!"  
  
"I'm sure you could have Helga. Come on lets get you to the hospital that arm doesn't look to good. And for that matter neither does your side."  
  
"I'm fine."  
  
"Good that means you won't have to stay at the hospital long."  
  
Arnold smiled and helped Helga up carefully as they started down the block to the nearest hospital. Which was luckily only a block away.  
  
~*~  
  
"Hello Helga."  
  
Helga turned her head and regarded Arnold as he put the daisy he was carrying by her bed. She turned her head away from him and looked out the window at the falling rain. Arnold sat down in a chair beside the bed and stared at the girl laying there silent as stone.  
  
"Listen I'm sorry. I know-"  
  
"Shut up Arnold."  
  
Helga turned towards him her arm was in a sling and her ribs were bandaged tightly. She was told to stay in bed for a week or two before trying to get up.  
  
"I'm sure you know by now what happened. A month and a half ago I stopped talking to phoebe. That was a week after John's gang roughed me up. I had tried braking up with him and he sent his goons after me. I didn't want phoebe mixed up in it. She was libel to guess and I knew she would try to help I didn't want her hurt to.  
  
I was getting away from him slowly he only caught on to half of what I was doing but that half he beat into me to stop it. I could have handled it though. You didn't need to butt in."  
  
"Handled it when, Helga! When you were beaten to a bloody pulp? How were you handling it? What if I hadn't have been there to help you? You could have been beaten to death! And you say you were handling it!"  
  
"They wouldn't have done that. They're to smart for it. Just leave Arnold! LEAVE!" she screamed throwing the first book that came to her hands. He grabbed the book and turned towards her.  
  
~*~ And I can't hide the way I feel about you anymore And I can't hold the hurt inside, keep the pain out of my eyes anymore My tears no longer waiting Oh, my resistance ain't that strong Oh, my mind keeps recreating a love with you alone And I'm tired of pretending I don't love you anymore...anymore...anymore ~*~  
  
"Why didn't you tell someone, Helga?"  
  
"He was the only one that really cared." she shook her head of the tears he saw plainly in her eyes. She pointed at the door and turned away.  
  
He nodded his head and walked out of the door.  
  
AN: *evil giggles* My, my. Aren't I naughty? Anyway I hope you all enjoyed. Have a WONDERFUL day. *wild laughter*  
  
Wyltk 


End file.
